Tag Archives: employment

New fact sheet: Unemployment among people with disabilities during COVID-19

Temporary employment may be becoming permanent

cover of fact sheet: unemployment among people with disabilities during COVID-19 recession. Link to full fact sheet in post.

People with disabilities are often the first to experience economic disruptions, and among the last to recover. Unemployment among people with disabilities spiked to 18.9% in April 2020 and declined to 12.5% in September. Both the initial increase and recent decrease in unemployment was primarily driven by changes in temporary unemployment (unemployed workers who expect to go back to their same job within six months). While temporary unemployment has gone down, permanent unemployment has risen since the recession began, and may indicate that for some, temporary unemployment is becoming permanent.

As the recession wears on and unemployment benefits begin to expire, long-term recovery to pre-pandemic levels may become elusive, yet again leaving people with disabilities behind.

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New research brief: How do adults with travel-limiting disabilities get around?

Transportation is still a barrier

Cover/first page of research brief: America at a glance- how do working-age adults with travel-limiting disabilities get around?

RTC:Rural’s newest research brief examines how rural people with disabilities use different types of transportation. These include being a driver, asking others for rides, special transportation services, reduced-fare taxis, and public transportation.

People with disabilities, especially in rural areas, still report transportation as a significant barrier to full inclusion and participation in community life, nearly 30 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. Understanding how people with disabilities get around is an important first step for improving transportation options.

Using data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey, this research brief explores travel behaviors and characteristics of rural and urban people with disabilities.

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New fact sheet: How will the COVID-19 recession impact people with disabilities in rural America?

Financial health, employment, and COVID-19

front page of fact sheet: how will the COVID-19 recession impact people with disabilities in rural America?

While many Americans will suffer in the coming recession, people with disabilities in rural areas are especially vulnerable because they are less likely to have an emergency savings fund, have access to paid leave, or be able to work from home.

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Disability Statistics Compendium recordings now available

Christiane von Reichert, Lillie Greiman, and Catherine Ipsen at the 2020 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium event in Washington DC.
Left to right: Christiane von Reichert, Lillie Greiman, and Catherine Ipsen.

On February 11, 2020, RTC:Rural Director Catherine Ipsen and Research Associate Lillie Greiman presented as part of a panel at the Annual Disability Statistics Compendium. Their presentation was titled “Uncovering the intersection of rural and disability.”

Christiane von Reichert, professor of Geography at the University of Montana and a RTC:Rural research partner, was also part of the panel. Her presentation was titled “Using the ACS PUMS to examine disability and migration.”

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Find burn injury resources in the Rural Disability Resource Library

Looking for burn injury resources?

Rural Disability Resource Library. RuralDisabilityLibrary.org

Check out the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center posts on the Rural Disability Resource Library, RTC:Rural’s information website. There you can find links to some fantastic resources to support individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and burn injury.

Click here: Burn Injury Resources

The Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) works to make sure the latest and best research findings are being used in healthcare decision-making. In order to help improve the health and quality of life of people with spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and burn injuries, MSKTC creates resources and products that share relevant research findings with the people who need this information.

The resources and information created and shared by MSKTC are important resources that help support people with disabilities so they can engage in their rural communities. In promoting this shared goal, RTC:Rural helps to share these resources with people in rural communities who can benefit from this information.

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Working Well with a Disability facilitator training: register now!

Working Well with a Disability

Registration for the February 2020 Working Well with a Disability online facilitator training is now open. The training will take place over eight days, starting the week of February 3. Space is limited, so please only register if you know you can attend. Registration closes on January 20th, 2020.

Working Well with a Disability Facilitator Training Details

Training dates: February 3rd – 12th. Training includes online self-study and discussion participation and a live webinar on February 12th.

A group of youth with different disabilities laugh and smile while posing together

Total time required: 8-10 hours (estimate) over 8 business days, in addition to time to read the Working Well manual.

Cost: $130 per person. Cost includes a manual in your preferred format.

Registration deadline: January 20.

How to register: Complete the brief form Working Well February 2020 Training Pre-Registration

After initial registration, you will receive an email containing a training schedule, a training overview, and the link with instructions to finalize your registration and payment.

Once you’ve registered, you should also have your agency review and agree to the Organizational Licensing Agreement, which is found here: Working Well Organizational Licensing Agreement

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RTC:Rural celebrates Disability Employment Month

The right talent, right now. National Disability Employment Awareness Month. #NDEAM. dol.gov/odep

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month! RTC:Rural joins with many others to celebrate the contributions of workers with disabilities. We are pleased to highlight the work being done to support people with disabilities in rural communities as they work towards achieving their employment goals.

Barriers to Rural Employment

A man using a wheelchair working at a grocery store.

For people with disabilities who live in rural areas, job opportunities are limited. There are physical barriers, such as inaccessible buildings and no accessible transportation, and also attitudinal barriers, such as negative stereotypes and discrimination. These barriers often keep people with disabilities from participating how they want in work, school, and community life. These barriers also contribute to increased social and economic inequality between people with and without disabilities.

Benefits of Employment

Employment has obvious economic benefits, but it also is important because it helps people participate in their communities and increases their overall well-being. Research shows that people with disabilities who are employed report that they participate more in their communities. They also feel more socially connected to other people.

For more on RTC:Rural’s recent research in this topic area, see “RTC:Rural researchers publish paper on rural/urban differences in social connectedness and perceived isolation for people with disabilities.”

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RTC:Rural researchers publish paper on rural/urban differences in social connectedness and perceived isolation for people with disabilities

Dr. Meredith Repke, RTC:Rural Research Associate, and Dr. Catherine Ipsen, RTC:Rural Director, recently published a paper in the Disability and Health Journal titled “Differences in social connectedness and perceived isolation among rural and urban adults with disabilities.”

Screenshot of the first page of journal article titled "Differences in social connectedness and perceived isolation among rural and urban adults with disabilities"

In the paper, Repke and Ipsen analyze survey data from the nation-wide Health Reform and Disability Survey to explore how a number of factors are related to social participation and perceived isolation for people with disabilities, and to see if there are differences for those who live in rural vs urban areas. These factors include number of disabilities, self-rated health, employment status, and living arrangements (alone or with others).

Previous studies have compared social isolation to smoking in terms of risk to public health. Some groups of people have a much higher risk of social isolation, including people with disabilities and rural residents. This research builds on previous work by considering how the potentially compounding effects of disability status and living in a rural area may affect social participation and perceived isolation.  

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RTC:Rural staff will share rural health care survey findings at NARRTC conference

On April 23, Dr. Meredith Repke, RTC:Rural Research Associate, will present findings from the Rural Access to Health Insurance and Health Care study, a partnership between RTC:Rural and the Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL), at the 2019 NARRTC conference. This year’s conference theme is “Inclusive Disability Research and Practice: Building on our History.” The study is being led by RTC:Rural Director Dr. Catherine Ipsen.    

RTC:Rural Research & Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities and the Collaborative on Health Reform and Indpendent Living (CHRIL) National Survey on Health Reform and Disability.

Repke is presenting as part of a panel of researchers on the project who are sharing different findings from the 2018 National Survey on Health Reform and Disability (NSHRD). CHRIL conducted the survey to understand how changes in health care reimbursement strategies affect working-age people with disabilities in terms of access to health insurance, as well as associated health care and quality of life outcomes. RTC:Rural researchers helped recruit people with disabilities from rural areas, and will use their data to answer some rural-specific questions.

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More to discover in the Rural Disability Resource Library

Looking for information on accessible transportation or housing? Or for strategies to help you talk about your disability in a job interview? Need some tips on how to find a personal care assistant, or on how to do your taxes?

For all those and more, check out the Rural Disability Resource Library. It contains fact sheets, how-to guides, information for conducting workshops, web resources, and much more!

Watch our video to learn more:

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